Tommy
From mediaartiststudio
Contents |
[edit] Treatment
High Strung will be a stop motion animation exploring the personality and psyche of the main character, Elliot that will be based on the archetypal journey of the hero from readings and concepts from The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. The central themes and concerns of this piece will be exploring the archetype of the hero and his journey or quest for something more through the observations of a single individual. I want to explore the concept of the archetypical journey of the hero to get a better understanding the basis of how to tell a great story and to learn the underlining themes and connections of stories told worldwide. I wanted to explore this concept in stop motion animation because it contains a true essence of tangibility while still containing surrealism. In stop motion animation the character is a physical puppet that will be positioned and repositioned for every frame of the animation, which gives the viewer something to grab on to because the character is a real object in a real space. On the other hand, it’s still an inanimate object moving and acting as if though it were a living breathing human that gives for a sense of surrealism and wonder. I feel these are all underlining elements in the journey of the hero.
Campbell says that all stories throughout the world are based on the same themes and structures. This is not due to the retelling of the same stories but instead; these stories come from the very core of the human psyche. In essence, the hero’s journey is the common heritage of all human beings. Campbell elaborates by saying dreams are personalized myths, and myths are depersonalized dreams. Though the stories are told in different ways and in different languages throughout the world, they all contain this fundamental nature of man’s internal fears, wishes, struggles, and emotion. Due to the story being told with no dialog but only gesture and motion, the animation can span across cultures with little to no misinterpretations or difficulties. The animation will also contain mythological imagery based from countries and cultures all over the world, which can be identified by people from different heritages. Though people from different cultures and backgrounds might read the content quite differently, they can always identify with a base element of the story, content, and imagery.
For this project I will be collaborating with two individuals on the art and construction portions of this piece. I will be collaborating with Mike Luoen on the armature, set, and prop design, construction, and detailing. Mike is an extremely talented artist and machinist who has won numerous awards for his sculptures and has been milling and machining for over twenty years. Through sketches and discussions of character design by Mike and myself, he will adapt and design a ball and socket armature to fit the requirement of the animation and the limitations of the tools available. After the armature design is completed and is capable to producing all the desired movements of the character, Mike will mill and machine all the ball and socket joints from scratch. He will also shape and carve lightweight wood for the stationary sections of the figure such as the abdomen and pelvis. This will give the armature a strong structure and also a good base to hold onto while animating. He will also create separate replaceable parts for certain sections of the armature, so if a part breaks during a shoot I can replace the piece without ruining the shot. This is critical due to the time limitations and the amount of animation that needs to be done. Mike will also aid in the design and construction of the stop motion set and prop elements, even down to the painting and detailing of every single small element. The main concern is creating a design for a set that can spin in 360 degrees on a firm center axis while also still having room under the floor of the set to be able to put my hands underneath it to manipulate the earth magnets that will be used to hold the character firmly to the floor. After all the materials for the animation are constructed and I begin to shoot the animation, I will go to Mike if there are repairs or modifications that need to be done to the puppet or set. I will also be collaborating with Mckayla Guaticatina on the sewing and puppet costume elements of the project. Mckayla will help to choose the correct fabric for the puppet’s clothes and curtains of his home. The characteristics of the fabric we’re looking for are something that does not give a large amount of shine or reflection from the set lights, has qualities of stretchiness that will enable the garments of the puppet to fit over the large joints of the puppet but still give a tight fit, and will not crawl or move while animating for long periods of time.
"You want to captivate people. It doesn't come with just technique, its about putting yourself inside that character. Its like slowing down your brain and all of a sudden you are that puppet and you move how that puppet moves."
-Guionne Leroy: Animator on Chicken Run, Toy Story, and James and the Giant Peach
"[The] early story phase is like feeling your way through a dark cave, blindfolded, with no flashlight. Any idea is welcome. There are no bad ideas at this point."
-Don Hahn: Producer on The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beauty and the Beast, Who Framed Roger Rabbit
"Story-writing is like solving a great puzzle made up of dozens of elements. Think of Rubik's Cube. You twist the sides around to see if a given combination will work, then you twist it again, and again, until it comes out right. Along the way, you probably have to discard a few things as well, and that can be the hardest part."
-Peter Lord: Director on Chicken Run, founder of Aardman Animation Studio
[edit] Visual Design
[edit] Character
Elliott is extremely skinny with long appendages. Overall, he has a humanistic form, but also shares similar structure and features to a spider. Elliott’s arms and legs are three the length of his abdomen. When he sits down in a chair his knees are above his head. He has an extremely hunched over posture. From a side view his spine has an equivalent shape to a question mark. He wears very raggedy clothes held together with stitches and string. Much of the stitches form cross-hatching on his clothing, which adds to his shape, dimension, and texture. He wears skinny straight-legged dark pants with crosshatched stitching over the knees. Elliott hides under his large but tight fitting sweatshirt. The hood of the sweatshirt is held on with tight woven stitches and hangs over Elliott’s head completely covering it. His head is hidden through the majority of the animation and is revealed at his point of realization. He has very unique and special hands. The palms of his hands are always concealed inside the ends of his sweatshirt and are never exposed. His fingers are extremely long and feature and extra set of digits on each finger that enable him to have precise articulation. His hands are enormously important throughout the entire animation. Due to Elliott’s face being covered, his emotions and thought will be told through his body langue and particularly his hands.
[edit] Elliott's House
Elliott lives in a small house that contains a single room. Elliott’s size ratio to his house is about 3:2, Elliott seems slightly to large to live in his house, but this is due to his extremely long limbs and will add to a sense of claustrophobia for the viewer. Everything in the house will seem awkward and slightly askew. All of the objects will not contain any right angles; instead will have off balance and crooked structures. The house will contain everyday objects such as a desk, dresser, cabinets, lamps, hanging light fixtures, shelves, pictures frames, and a vast amount of neatly stacked and organized objects. Due to Elliott never leaving his house, he must neatly stack and organize you material goods to fit it in his already small home.
[edit] Equipment
- Canon Rebel XSI Digital SLR
- Tripod
- Dolly Track
- Mac Pro with Dragon Stop Motion
- NTSC Monitor
- PD150 (timelapse documentation)
- HVX/or DVX (to shoot cutout rotoscope footage)
- Scene Master (Lighting Controls)
- Mickey Moles, Mini Moles, Tini Moles (Tungsten)
- Case Light and other Daylight Balanced Lights
- Snoots
- C Stands
- Gobo Arms
- Grip Heads
- Flags
- Cookies
- Bounce Cards
- Black Foam Core
- Black Wrap
- Gaff Tape
- Sand Bags
- Marantz Flash Recorder
- Tascam Flash Recorder
- SM57 Microphone
- Shotgun Microphone
- XLR Cables
[edit] Software
- Dragon Stop Motion
- iStop Motion
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop CS3,CS4
- Photomatix Pro
- Apple Color
- Adobe After Effects
- Peak Pro
- Digital Performer
- Compressor
- MPEG Stream Clip
- DVD Studio Pro
[edit] Collaboration
- Mike Lewin: Amrature and Set Construction and Detailing
- Mckayla Snowmassara: Puppet Costumes/Dressing
The more and more I read and research about animation, especially in 3-D puppet animation, the more I realize if and when I become apart of the professional animation community how unlikely it will be to construct every single aspect of the animation completely by myself. During a keynote speech at The 2D OR NOT 2D Animation festival Disney Producer, Don Hahn, described animation as a team sport. Each person from each department works towards the same goal but has their individual job and specialty. Now, there’s always an exception to the rule. One of my favorite animators and people I look up to, Don Hertzfeldt, creates all of his animations from start to finish with help only from an editor and composer. I believe this is possible due to his style and personal work ethic. Even the creator of Wallace and Gromit, Nick Park, hand crafted every part of his first Wallace and Gromit film, A Grand Day Out, single handily, but on later films had to slowly relinquish control as it was becoming something bigger. Nick Park explains out of a quote in Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation;
But each film I had to setp back more. I say stepping back – it’s not really stepping back, I did do a few scenes of my own in Close Shave – so I did feel I kept some hand on it – but in Chicken Run I couldn’t animate. I never felt I’d lost control. There is a part of it I regret, because I do like doing animation, I love doing it, but at the same time, to make a film of that size you can’t afford to do that, because you have to spend your time going round telling everybody what to do. It is easier to do it yourself than to tell everybody else what to do!
Realizing my time at Evergreen may be my last chances to work completely individually for awhile, I’m going to continue with my usual production style of working alone, but still for certain aspects of this piece on for collaboration, specifically the art department side. By working alone it does not mean I’m going to completely waste the amazing resources at Evergreen. There are huge amounts of talent and specialization all around Evergreen, and 3-D puppet animation being such an interdisciplinary art form; I’m going to use these resources throughout my entire project for consolation, which I have already heavily begun. I have already had meetings with Sally Cloninger, Peter Randlette, Angela Goldenstar, and Dave Cramton. I also have planned a large amount of meetings for the first week of winter quarter so I can get this project off on the right foot. In terms of collaboration, I will be working with people on the art aspects of this piece. I have briefly spoken with Sherry Kirk, a dollhouse maker in my drawing class, about helping with the construction and detailing of the stop motion set. Also, Mckayla Snowmassara approached me with the offer to help with the creation of the puppet's costume and fine stitching, where I gladly accepted and would have approached her for sewing consolation anyways. As for additional help, I will be looking for art students for help in the painting and detailing of the set and props. For everything else, I will continue to be a control freak for as all as it’s possible. As Nick Park said, “It is easier to do it yourself than to tell everybody else what to do!” As I know this will not last for long.
Be a generalist. If you work in a large animation studio, you'll be asked to specialize in one department. But early in your career, you shouldn't specialize too much. Try to work with everything: draw, board, model, rig, paint, animate, edit. Even if the experience is simple and short, it will give you a big appreciation for all the jobs it takes to make a feature film. It will also help you discover which tasks you enjoy and where your real talents lie. -Don Hahn, quote from his book: The Alchemy of Animation
[edit] Consultation
- Sally Cloninger: COMPLETE OVERSEER (Prodder/Poker)
- Peter Randlette: Theory, Content, Tech, and Audio
- Angela Goldenstar: Armature Construction
- Dave Cramton: Cinematography, Lighting
- Ruth Hayes: Storyboard, Story, Content
- Stephanie Zorn: Lab Usage and Set-Up
- Raoul Berman: Soldering, Electronics
- Jed Smith: Tech, Composting, HDR
- Mckayla Snowmassara: Sewing, Costumes
- Mike Moran: Composition, Art
[edit] Bibliography
- Hahn, Don. The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age. New York: Disney Editions, 2008.
- Lord, Peter, and Brian Sibley. Creating 3-D Animation: The Aardman Book of Filmmaking. New York: Abrams, 1998.
- Shaw, Susannah. Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation. Italy: Focal Press, 2004.
- Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, The Art, The Vision by Frank
- Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art by Lewis Hyde
- The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
[edit] Project Goals
[edit] Skill Sets
- Armature Construction
- Armature Construction will be overseen by Angela Goldenstar
- Stop Motion Set Construction
- Collaborating with Sherry Kirk on set design, construction, and detailing
- Dragon Stop Motion
- Lighting for Stop Motion
- HDR Photography
- 5.1 Sound Design
- Compression
- Codecs
- Apple Color
- Photomatix Pro
- Compressor
- DVD Studio Pro
[edit] Final Output
"An animated film is the ultimate paradox: on one hand, it takes years of work and millions of hours of passion and labor to produce. On the other hand, you want the audience to completely forget all the technology, craft, and hard work that is poured into a film, and simply sit back and enjoy the illusion" -Don Hahn
[edit] Image
- Full Resolution 4272x2848 [3:2 Aspect Ratio]
- Full Resolution 16:9 4272x2403 [16:9 Aspect Ratio]
- HD 1920x1080 [16:9 Aspect Ratio]
- SD 720x480 [letterbox, 16:9 embedded into 4:3]
- iPod Touch 480x320 [letterbox, 16:9 embedded into 3:2]
- H264 640x480 2.5-Mbps with AAC-LC 160-Kbps 48kHz Audio
- H264 640x480 2.5-Mbps with AAC-LC 160-Kbps 48kHz Audio
- iPod Classic 320x240 [letterbox, 16:9 embedded into 4:3]
- H264 640x480 2.5-Mbps with AAC-LC 160-Kbps 48kHz Audio
- H264 640x480 2.5-Mbps with AAC-LC 160-Kbps 48kHz Audio
- PSP (Playstation Portable) 480x272 [16:9 (480x270)]
- H264 480x272 640 kbit/s with AAC 128 kbit/s 48kHz Audio
- H264 480x272 640 kbit/s with AAC 128 kbit/s 48kHz Audio
[edit] Audio
- Stereo Mix
- 5.1 Surround Sound Mix
[edit] Production Schedule
[edit] Fall Quarter
Evaluation Week: Test Dragon Stop Motion, Finish Aim Statement, Edit Wiki Page
Break: Research, Technical Research and Writing
[edit] Winter Quarter
Week 1: Research, Storyboard, Character and Art Design
Week 2: Armature Construction, Armature Detailing, Animatic
Week 3: Preproduction Packet Due, Set Construction, Lighting Tests
Week 4: Set Painting and Decorating
Week 5: Test Shoots, Motion Tests
Week 6: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 7: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 8: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check, Shoot Pixilation, Prepare Video to Print
Week 9: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check, Shoot Pixilation, Prepare Video to Print
Week 10: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check, Print Pixilation onto Cardstock
Evaluation Week: Print Pixilation onto Cardstock, Cut Out Pixilation Prints Outs
Spring Break: Cut Out Pixilation Print Outs
[edit] Spring Quarter
Week 1: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 2: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 3: 3-D Puppet Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 4: Paper Replacement Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 5: Paper Replacement Shoot, HDR Compositing, Simple Edits, Continuity Check
Week 6: Rough Cut Edit, Graphic Score, Color Correction
Week 7: Foley Sound Effects Recording, Cleaning/Editing Audio, Poster Design
Week 8: Musical Score, Stereo Mix, Artist Statement
Week 9: Fine Cut Edit, 5.1 Mix
Week 10: Final Edit, Edit Making Of
Evaluation Week: Self Evaluation, Faculty Evaluation, Finish Making Of
[edit] Contact Information
Production Blog: http://blogs.evergreen.edu/tommy /
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/tommy
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/tommytproductions
Old Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/projectilefilms
